The document provides information about the history and collection of the Louvre museum in Paris. It began as a royal fortress and was transformed into a palace starting in the 16th century. It grew into one of the world's largest art museums, housing famous works like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. The Louvre opened as the first national public art gallery in 1793 and continues to showcase its vast collection of paintings, sculptures, and antiquities.

2. DELACROIX, Eugène
Liberty Leading the People (detail)
1830
Oil on canvas
Musée du Louvre, Paris

3. DELACROIX, Eugène
Liberty Leading the People (detail)
1830
Oil on canvas
Musée du Louvre, Paris

4. DELACROIX, Eugène
Liberty Leading the People
1830
Oil on canvas
Musée du Louvre, Paris

5. Paris, Musée du Louvre
Picture Gallery, The Masterpieces

6. LEONARDO da Vinci
Mona Lisa (detail)
1503-5
Oil on panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris

7. LEONARDO da Vinci
Mona Lisa (detail)
1503-5
Oil on panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris

8. LEONARDO da Vinci
Mona Lisa (detail)
1503-5
Oil on panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris

9. LEONARDO da Vinci
Mona Lisa (La Gioconda)
c. 1503-5
Oil on panel, 77 x 53 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

10. CARAVAGGIO
The Fortune Teller
1596-97
Oil on canvas, 99 x 131 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

11. CARAVAGGIO
The Fortune Teller
1596-97
Oil on canvas, 99 x 131 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

12. CARAVAGGIO
The Fortune Teller
1596-97
Oil on canvas, 99 x 131 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

13. CARAVAGGIO
The Fortune Teller
1596-97
Oil on canvas, 99 x 131 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

14. DAVID, Jacques-Louis
Consecration of the Emperor
Napoleon I and Coronation
of the Empress Josephine
1805-07
Oil on canvas, 629 x 979 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

15. DAVID, Jacques-Louis
Consecration of the Emperor
Napoleon I (detail)
1805-07
Oil on canvas
Musée du Louvre, Paris

16. DAVID, Jacques-Louis
Consecration of the Emperor
Napoleon I (detail)
1805-07
Oil on canvas
Musée du Louvre, Paris

17. DAVID, Jacques-Louis
Consecration of the Emperor
Napoleon I (detail)
1805-07
Oil on canvas
Musée du Louvre, Paris

18. VERONESE, Paolo
The Marriage at Cana
1563
Oil on canvas, 666 x 990 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

19. VERONESE, Paolo
The Marriage at Cana (detail)
1563
Oil on canvas
Musée du Louvre, Paris

20. VERONESE, Paolo
The Marriage at Cana (detail)
1563
Oil on canvas
Musée du Louvre, Paris

21. ANTONELLO da Messina
Portrait of a Man (Il
Condottiere)
1475
Oil on canvas, 36 x 30 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

22. BELLINI, Giovanni
Portrait of a Young Man
c. 1500
Oil on panel, 32 x 26 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

23. BOSCH, Hieronymus
The Ship of Fools
1490-1500
Oil on wood, 58 x 33 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

24. BOSCH, Hieronymus
The Ship of Fools (detail)
1490-1500
Oil on wood, 58 x 33 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

25. BOTTICELLI, Sandro
Venus and the Three Graces
Presenting Gifts to a Young
Woman
c. 1484
Fresco transferred to
canvas, 211 x 284 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

26. BOTTICELLI, Sandro
Virgin and Child with Young
St John the Baptist
1470-75
Wood, 90 x 67 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

27. CHAMPAIGNE, Philippe de
Cardinal Richelieu
c. 1639
Oil on canvas, 222 x 155 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

28. CHAMPAIGNE, Philippe de
Louis XIII Crowned by
Victory (Siege of La
Rochelle, 1628)
1635
Oil on canvas, 228 x 175 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

29. CIMABUE
Virgin Enthroned with
Angels
1290-95
Panel, 424 x 276 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

30. CIMABUE
Virgin Enthroned with
Angels (detail)
1290-95
Panel, 424 x 276 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

31. CRANACH, Lucas the Elder
Portrait of a Young Girl
c. 1540
Oil on wood, 39 x 25 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

32. DAVID, Gerard
The Marriage at Cana
c. 1500
Oil on wood, 100 x 128 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

33. DAVID, Gerard
The Marriage at Cana (detail)
c. 1500
Oil on wood
Musée du Louvre, Paris

34. DAVID, Jacques-Louis
The Oath of the Horatii
1784
Oil on canvas, 330 x 425 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

35. DAVID, Jacques-Louis
The Oath of the Horatii
(detail)
1784
Oil on canvas
Musée du Louvre, Paris

36. DELACROIX, Eugène
The Barque of Dante
1822
Oil on canvas, 189 x 246 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

37. DELAROCHE, Paul
The Death of Elizabeth I,
Queen of England
1828
Oil on canvas, 422 x 343 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

38. DÜRER, Albrecht
Self-portrait at 22
1493
Oil on linen, transferred from
vellum, 57 x 45 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

39. DÜRER, Albrecht
Self-portrait at 22 (detail)
1493
Oil on linen, transferred from
vellum, 57 x 45 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

40. DYCK, Sir Anthony van
Charles I, King of England at
the Hunt
c. 1635
Oil on canvas, 266 x 207 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

41. FOUQUET, Jean
Portrait of Charles VII of
France
c. 1445
Wood, 86 x 72 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

42. GÉRICAULT, Théodore
The Raft of the Medusa
1818-19
Oil on canvas, 491 x 716 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

43. GIOTTO di Bondone
Stigmatization of St Francis
1300
Tempera on wood, 314 x 162
cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

44. GOYA Y LUCIENTES,
Francisco de
The Countess del Carpio,
Marquesa de la Solana
1793-95
Oil canvas, 181 x 122 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

45. GOYA Y LUCIENTES,
Francisco de
The Countess del Carpio,
Marquesa de la Solana
(detail)
1793-95
Oil canvas, 181 x 122 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

46. GROS, Antoine-Jean
Napoleon Bonaparte Visiting
the Plague-stricken at Jaffa
1799
Oil on canvas, 523 x 715 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

47. GROS, Antoine-Jean
Bonaparte on the Bridge at
Arcole
1796
Oil on canvas, 73 x 59 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

48. HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger
Erasmus
1523
Oil on wood, 43 x 33 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

49. HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger
Portrait of Anne of Cleves
c. 1539
Parchment mounted on
canvas, 65 x 48 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

50. LA TOUR, Georges de
Christ in the Carpenter's
Shop
1645
Oil on canvas, 137 x 101 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

51. LA TOUR, Georges de
Christ in the Carpenter's
Shop (detail)
1645
Oil on canvas
Musée du Louvre, Paris

52. LEONARDO da Vinci
The Virgin and Child with St
Anne
c. 1510
Oil on wood, 168 x 130 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

53. LEONARDO da Vinci
The Virgin and Child with St
Anne (detail)
c. 1510
Oil on wood
Musée du Louvre, Paris

54. LEONARDO da Vinci
Virgin of the Rocks
1483-86
Oil on panel, 199 x 122 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

55. LEONARDO da Vinci
Virgin of the Rocks (detail)
1483-86
Oil on panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris

56. MANTEGNA, Andrea
St Sebastian
c. 1480
Tempera on canvas, 255 x
140 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

57. MANTEGNA, Andrea
St Sebastian (detail)
c. 1480
Tempera on canvas
Musée du Louvre, Paris

58. MEMLING, Hans
Virgin and Child with Sts
James and Dominic
1488-90
Oil on panel, 130 x 160 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

59. RAFFAELLO Sanzio
The Virgin and Child with
Saint John the Baptist (La
Belle Jardinière)
1507
Oil on wood, 122 x 80 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

60. RAFFAELLO Sanzio
Portrait of Baldassare
Castiglione
1514-15
Oil on canvas, 82 x 67 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

61. REMBRANDT Harmenszoon
van Rijn
Bathsheba at her Bath
1654
Oil on canvas, 142 x 142 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

62. RIBERA, Jusepe de
Clubfooted Boy
1642
Oil on canvas, 164 x 92 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

63. RIGAUD, Hyacinthe
Portrait of Louis XIV
1701
Oil on canvas, 277 x 194 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

64. RUBENS, Peter Paul
Portrait of Anne of Austria
1621-25
Oil on canvas, 85 x 37 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

65. TIZIANO Vecellio
Woman with a Mirror
c. 1514
Oil on canvas, 93 x 76 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

66. UNKNOWN MASTER, French
Portrait of Jean le Bon, King
of France
c. 1360
Wood, 60 x 44 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

67. MASSYS, Quentin
The Moneylender and his
Wife
1514
Oil on panel, 71 x 68 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

68. MASSYS, Quentin
The Moneylender and his
Wife (detail)
1514
Oil on panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris

69. MASSYS, Quentin
The Moneylender and his
Wife (detail)
1514
Oil on panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris

70. MASSYS, Quentin
The Moneylender and his
Wife (detail)
1514
Oil on panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris

71. VERMEER, Johannes
The Lacemaker
1669-70
Oil on canvas transferred to
panel, 23.9 x 20.5 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

72. VERMEER, Johannes
The Lacemaker (detail)
1669-70
Oil on canvas transferred to
panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris

73. LEONARDO da Vinci
Annunciation
1478-82
Oil on panel, 16 x 60 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

74. LEONARDO da Vinci
Annunciation (detail)
1478-82
Oil on panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris

75. LEONARDO da Vinci
Annunciation (detail)
1478-82
Oil on panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris

76. WEYDEN, Rogier van der
The Annunciation
c. 1440
Oil on oak panel, 86 x 93 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

77. WEYDEN, Rogier van der
The Annunciation (detail)
c. 1440
Oil on oak panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris

78. WEYDEN, Rogier van der
The Annunciation (detail)
c. 1440
Oil on oak panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris

79. WEYDEN, Rogier van der
The Annunciation (detail)
c. 1440
Oil on oak panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris

80. EYCK, Jan van
The Virgin of Chancellor
Rolin
1435
Wood, 66 x 62 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

81. EYCK, Jan van
The Virgin of Chancellor
Rolin (detail)
1435
Oil on wood
Musée du Louvre, Paris

82. cast Paris, Musée du Louvre: Picture Gallery,
The Masterpieces
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EYCK, Jan van
The Virgin of Chancellor
Rolin (detail)
1435
Oil on wood
Musée du Louvre, Paris

83. EYCK, Jan van
The Virgin of Chancellor
Rolin (detail)
1435
Oil on wood
Musée du Louvre, Paris
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84. Musée du Louvre, Paris
LouvreThe Louvre is the national museum and art gallery of France, an epitome of the
nation's history and culture. The first building on the site, begun c. 1190 by Philip-
Augustus as a fortress and arsenal, held the royal treasures of jewels, armour,
illuminated manuscripts, etc. It was enlarged and beautified by Charles V (reigned 1364-
80), and his successor Charles VI used it as a residence for visiting royalty.
Francis I began to demolish it in the 1520s and in 1546 commissioned the architect Pierre
Lescot to build a new palace of four wings around a square court, roughly of the same
size as the old castle and on the same site. Only the west and half of the south wings
were completed by Lescot, but his work forms the heart of the present vast structure, and
his elegant and sophisticated classical style set the tone for all the future additions,
which were made by virtually every French monarch up to Napoleon III.
Under Louis XIV the royal collection increased from some 200 pictures to over 2,000. In
support of the policy for state control of the arts and taste, some of the king's pictures
were opened to public view in the Louvre from 1681 and the exhibitions of the new
Académie were held there from 1673. The court had moved into the Louvre in 1652, but it
transferred to Versailles in 1678.

85. Under Louis XVI the conversion of the Grande Galerie into a museum was begun and
as a result of the democratic fervour incidental to the Revolution the Louvre was
opened as the first national public gallery in 1793 (though as a public gallery it was
preceded by others, including the Ashmolean in Oxford and the Vatican).
Napoleon renamed the Louvre the Musée Napoléon in 1803 and exhibited there the
works of art he had gathered from conquered territories. Most were restored after his
fall from power. The Louvre was reopened by Napoleon III in 1851 with the addition of
the Rubens's Medici cycle from the Luxembourg Palace.
In addition to one of the world's greatest collections of paintings, the Louvre houses
many other treasures, including large holdings of Greek and Roman antiquities.
Among the famous ancient statues are the Borghese Warrior, the Venus de Milo, and
the Victory of Samothrace.
To relieve congestion after the Second World War a special museum for
Impressionist art was formed at the Jeu de Paume in the gardens of the Tuileries. The
paintings from the Jeu de Paume, together with certain other works from the Louvre,
have now been moved to the Musée d'Orsay in Paris (opened 1986), which is devoted
to the art of the late 19th century, c. 1848 - c. 1905.